Criminal Law (Jurisdiction) Act, 1976

Repeals, amendments and transitional provision.

21.—(1) Sections 24 to 27 of the Larceny Act, 1916 , are hereby repealed.

(2) The buildings to which section 5 of the Malicious Damage Act, 1861 , applies shall include any building belonging to the State, to a State authority (within the meaning of the State Property Act, 1954 ) or to any other state; and for the purposes of that section, a building belonging to the government or any branch or organ of the government of another state or part thereof shall be treated as belonging to that state.

(3) Section 28 (1) of the Larceny Act, 1916 , is hereby amended by the substitution of “commit any burglary” for “break and enter into any building and to commit any felony therein”.

(4) Section 15 of the Firearms Act, 1925 , is hereby amended by the substitution of “imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years” for “penal servitude for a term not exceeding twenty years, or imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding two years”.

(5) The First Schedule to the Criminal Justice Act, 1951 , is hereby amended, as respects offences committed after the commencement of this Act, by the substitution of “23A, 23B” for “25, 26, 27” (inserted by the Criminal Procedure Act, 1967 ) in column (2) at reference numbers 14 and 15 (which specify the offences under the Larceny Act, 1916 , which may be dealt with summarily).

(6) The Firearms Act, 1964 , is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution of “section 28” for “sections 23 and 28” in section 25 (1),

(b) by the substitution of “imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years” for “a fine not exceeding five hundred pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to penal servitude for a term not exceeding five years or to both such fine and penal servitude” in section 26 (1), and

(c) by the substitution of “imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years” for “a fine not exceeding five hundred pounds, or, at the discretion of the court, to penal servitude for a term not exceeding five years or to both such fine and penal servitude” in section 27 (2).

(7) If a person is charged in the alternative with having, before the commencement of this Act, committed an offence under a provision of the Larceny Act, 1916 , repealed by subsection (1) and with having, after that commencement, committed an offence of burglary or aggravated burglary, and it is proved that he did the acts constituting the offences charged, but it is not proved whether the acts were done before or after that commencement, he may be convicted of the appropriate offence under the repealed provision of the Larceny Act, 1916 , but he shall not be liable to a penalty greater than the lesser of the maximum penalties provided for the two offences with which he is charged.